tracking sandy. the category 2 hurricane slams into cuba and could develop into a major weather event that impacts the east coast. campaign blitz. the candidates shift into high gear focusing on swing states with less than two weeks to go before the election. and panda power. makes world series history crushing three home runs in a game three victory. this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, october 25, 2012.

good morning. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. hurricane sandy is lashing islands and the storm is threatening the east coast. sandy made landfall in southeastern cuba overnight. it's now a category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. sandy is moving northeast at about 15 miles per hour. while forecasters don't really know where sandy will end up, they are already saying it could develop into a major weather event. as sandy pushes towards the united states it's expected to take one of two tracks. it can swirl off the mid-atlantic states posing no serious danger but bringing strong wind and waves or could merge with a cold front creating a monster storm that slams into the northeast by the beginning of next week. >> that forms a new low which can be a major nor'easter, which means extremely heavy snows across the appalachians and western pennsylvania, very heavy rains along the coast and of course some very strong winds. >> cuba was the latest island to

get in sandy's way. officials ordered 55,000 evacuations. many from low-lying areas. sandy could dump up 20 inches of rain on cuba and could deliver a storm surge up to six feet. on wednesday sandy crashed the shore in jamaica as category 1 storm with winds topping out at 80 miles per hour. the storm is blamed for killing an elderly man. police say he was killed with a boulder crushed his home. sandy took down trees and power lines and sent hundreds of people to shelters but some living in low lying areas refused to evacuate fearing their homes would be burglarized. >> teams spent overnight over there trying to convince the people to leave the street to come to the shelter. >> sandy's outer band swept across haiti. a woman was killed there. sandy's effects can be seen in the sunshine state. the storm is delivering high winds and rough surf to south florida. forecasters say if sandy increases in size, coastal south

florida could see tropical storm force winds as early as tonight. and there's still a chance sandy moves out into the atlantic but forecasters say that scenario is becoming more and more unlikely and if the storm stays offshore the east coast is still likely to feel some of its effects. a fast-moving wind driven wildfire in southern colorado has damaged 14 homes. the fire broke out tuesday. about 100 miles south of denver. nearly 400 residents in the town of whitmore were forced to evacuate. 2,000 acres have burned. the obama's administration account of the attack in libya has become a hot button issue. four americans died in the benghazi attack including ambassador christopher stevens. one e-mail said an islamist militant group claimed for the attack on facebook and twitter which played into the

administration's claims that they knew it was a terrorist attack. yesterday secretary of state hillary clinton said a facebook posting is not conclusive proof. >> posting something on facebook is not in and of itself evidce. and i think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued for some time to be. >> a tunisian man with alleged ties to the attack was arrested in turkey earlier. he's been returned to tunisia facing terrorism charges. the united nations security council backed a four day truce in syria but that doesn't mean the fighting will stop. the u.n. arab league envoy to syria proposed the four day holiday cease-fire. the syrian government said it hasn't signed on and rebel commanders called the proposal irrelevant. a new study says the cost of a college education continues to

rise. the average price for a four year public university including room and board is almost $18,000. for a private college almost $40,000. anthony mason looks at what this means important the president and what the presidential plans to do about it. >> when am i going to buy a house, can i buy a house? >> you feel you're already behind the eight ball? >> reporter: nationally student debt surpasses all other forms of consumer debt. >> what they are saying it's the stunt debt ate crisis but nobody is saying here's how we deal with it. >> reporter: 90% of student loans are made by the federal government. >> millions of young people am across the country are getting peter deals on pell grant. >> reporter: president obama more than doubled spending on pell grants. they are the main loan program for low-income students.

the president also supports debt forgiveness, forgiving a loan balance after a debt orhas paid 10% of their income for 25 years. >> don't expect the government to forgive the debt you take on. recognize you have to pay it back. >> reporter: governor romney wants to reverse what he calls mr. obama's nationalization of the student loan market. he says getting private lenders back into the process would make the system more efficient. he would refocus on students that need the pell grant more. >> you're not out of this debt cycle yet? >> no. i'm accumulating more debt. >> reporter: kevin is looking to borrow another $2,000 to get a masters degree. that's another reason the crisis keeps ballooning. >> now a trillion dollar story and counting. >> reporter: it's fast becoming a burden on the entire economy.

>> you either figure out a way to make education affordable again or go back to having a vast underclass which is uneducated and even more cut off om opportunity which has social and political implications that are not pretty or desirable. >> it's become a catch 22. in this economy, not having a degree is almost a sentence of poverty. on the other hand, paying for the degree can sink you into poverty. anthony mason, cbs news, new york. take a quick break on a thursday morning. when we come back on the morning news we'll get the latest from the campaign trail. this is the "cbs morning news". n and stop the damage with humira, adalimumab. for many adults with moderate to severe ra, humira is clinically proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. so you can treat more than just the pain. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lympma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems,

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cbs moneywatch time now. the world's longest nonstop flight is grounded. ashley morrison has more. >> reporter: microsoft the world's largest software maker unveiled a new version of windows today, one day ahead of its formal release. windows 8 is designed to run on pcs, tablets and smart phones. the new operating system is a

radical remake of windows the biggest in 17 years. it comes at a time when microsoft needs to show it still has the expertise to be a major player in the future of computing. a report from china on factory output fueled stocks in asia this morning. the nikkei rose more than 1% hitting a four week closing high while the hang seng gained a quarter of a percent. on wall street stocks continued their slide but not as bad as it has been. the dow jones industrial average was down 25 points at the close of wednesday's trading, the nasdaq lost 8 points. five years after the collapse of the housing market the federal government is suing bank of america for alleged mortgage fraud. federal prosecutors accuse the bank of selling unqualified mortgages to fannie mae and freddie mac to countrywide corporation. they claim the sales cost the taxpayers more than $1 billion in loss. bank of america said it acted responsibly. a former goldman sachs executive

will serve a two year prison term for insider trading. he was sentenced here in new york on wednesday for leaking information about the bank to a hedge fund manager. gupta was ordered to pay a $5 million fine. and the world's largest nonstop airline flight will be cancelled permanently. it takes 18 hours for singapore airline service between newark, new jersey and singapore, a distance of 9,500 miles. the airline said the flight will be replaced by more cost efficient service with stops in germany or japan. i don't think you can pay me a million dollars to get on an 18 hour flight. >> keep the cocktails coming the entire flight. keep me out of my mind. >> we can get know each other really well. talk and talk and talk. >> ashley morrison here in new york. appreciate it. straight ahead your thursday morning weather and in sports the tigers can't contain the

panda. san francisco's pablo sandoval turns in a performance for the history books in game one of the world series. when it comes to toilet paper, there's no such thing as too soft. i know what i like. i like feeling both clean and pampered. why should i compromise? quilted northern ultra plush®, with the innerlux layer. for a comfortable, confident clean, or your money back. challenge that with new olay facial hair removal duo. a two-step process that removes even coarse, stubborn facial hair gently.

plenty of gain, without all that pain... with olay. an intense burning sensation i woke up with this horrible rash on my right side.in... like somebody had set it on fire. and the doctor said, cindie, you have shingles. he said, you had chickenpox when you were a little girl... i said, yes, i did. i don't think anybody ever thinks they're going to get shingles. but it happened to me. for more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo.com here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york mostly cloudy, 65 degrees. wind and rain in miami, 85. chicago 75. afternoon thunderstorms in dallas 79. sunny in l.a. 82 degrees. let's check your national forecast. tropical storm alerts are up along the east coast of florida

as hurricane sandy moves towards thbahamas. sunny, warm and dry in the deep south and mid-atlantic states. showers and thunderstorms will extend from eastern kansas to the great lakes. rain could change to snow from eastern nebraska to the dakotas and minnesota. the southwest and the pacific northwest will be steamy. game one of the world series is in the books. the history book. san francisco giants going for their second title in three years opening up at home versus the tigers of detroit first inning giants third baseman pablo sandoval going deep to put san francisco on top early. the giants going in deep. santo value again. this time with a homer to left field make it 4-0 giants and the man we call kung fu panda. he knocks it out to center-field. third homer of the game.

giants 8-3 win in game one. even tigers manager had to tip his hat to the panda. >> you can't sit up here and say what he did tonight was a fluke. it was unbelievable. the guy had one of those one believable world series nights they will be talking about for years. >> sandoval is the fourth player in baseball history to hit three homers in a world series game. moving to politics. president obama is in the midst of a 40 hour coast to coast campaign marathon. he'll be in illinois and his campaign blitz contains a stop in ohio. mitt romney is there as well. susan mcginnis is in washington with more on all of this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. both presidential candidates are spending every minute they can in the battleground states that hold those crucial electoral votes. some comments from a senate

candidate interrupted both campaigns. 13,000 people packed a las vegas park for a late night rally featuring president obama and katie perry. ♪ it's part of a 40 hour six state campaign swing. >> we're pulling an all nighter. no sleep. if you're not going to sleep you might as well be in vegas. >> reporter: the president campaigns in florida and virginia today. he'll campaign in chicago and finish the night in ohio. >> ohio could well be the place that elects the next president of the united states. >> reporter: mitt romney will focus entirely on ohio today with rallies in cincinnati and the columbus area. romney says he's gaining ground in the polls because he believes the president has no plan for a second term. >> they've been unable to defend and describe what they do to get our economy going again.

and that's why with a president that's out of ideas and out of excuses, why on november 6th you're going to make sure you put him out of office. >> reporter: the latest "time" magazine poll of ohio gives the president a five point lead on romney. both candidates jump into a controversy over a senate candidate about rape and pregnancy. >> even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it's something that god intended to happen. >> reporter: richard mourdock said he was talking about life not rape. on the "tonight show" with jay leno, president obama said he didn't really know what mourdock was talking about. >> rape is rape. it is a crime. so the distinction about rape and don't make too much sense to me. don't make any sense to me. >> i hope you'll join me in supporting richard mourdock. >> reporter: mitt romney has supported mourdock's senate bid.

romney disagrees with what mourdock said but stands by his endorsement. mourdock is refusing to apologize. he said he spoke from the heart and from the deepest levels of his faith. >> susan mcginnis in washington. thank you. when we come back on a thursday we're learning more about the questionable practices of the company behind the tainted drug that led to the meningitis outbreak. n smell fresh?tainer take a deep breath. describe the room that you're in. i think just like a big, open space. like i'm hanging the sheets on the line. and it smells really fresh, man. let's take your blindfold off. oh! [ both laugh ] super-weird! oh, is it febreze? yeah. ohh, how about that? febreze has anti-clogging technology that keeps it smelling fresh, even after 30 days. febreze. breathe happy. get ready for a feeling of clean like nothing else. extreme clean from aquafresh. it showers your whole mouth with rich

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. in washington partly sunny 76 degrees. atlanta mostly sunny 80. afternoon thunderstorms out in st. louis that's 80 degrees. mostly cloudy in denver 37 and seattle 50 degrees. the investigation of the meningitis outbreak centers on the new england compounding center a massachusetts pharmaceutical business. >> reporter: state officials received the complaint last

march about the company that produced these tainted steroids. but health officials in massachusetts tell us they conducted what's called an offsite inspection, a review of documents. >> it's apparent that they were not following licensing regulations despite their obligation to the so. >> reporter: the fda released a list of the necc customers. one denver area hospital filed a cease and desist letter saying the company sent drugs into colorado without a valid prescription. in 2004 state and federal authorities inspected necc after what was called an adverse event involving the steroid linked to the current outbreak. necc is a family business that started in 1998.

one man holds the title of vice president, treasurer, secretary and director. another brother runs medical sales management which oversees the sales force for necc. >> this investigation also extends to necc's business practices and the environmental conditions surrounding the business including the presence of a nearby recycling center that shares ownership with necc. >> reporter: the recycling business conigliaro industries operates in the same building as necc. in 2003 it was cited for accumulation of combustibles. in a statement the necc says that throughout its entire history the company has demonstrated a good faith intention to operate in compliance with tremendous kwirmt for this license. jim axelrod, cbs news, boston. >> coming up after your local

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downhill off the cliff depending on what happens with sandy. >> somebody was talking about it could be another 1991, a perfect storm. >> this thing is coming together in some ways up the east coast by early next week. there will be some problems. don't know if it will be the bigger problems in the northeast or the mid-atlantic. this is one we'll be watching. i anticipate little sleep between now and next tuesday or halloween for me. overnight sandy exploded, a category 3 storm. latest advisory it's over eastern cuba headed toward the bahamas. we'll be tracking this obviously for you all morning. plenty of time to watch it. we have tropical storm warnings now for the southeast coast of florida. it will stay in the bahamas but after that, then we've got the questions. around here we've got some clouds which have moved in, an easterly flow. we'll burn them off a little later this morning. upper 60s by noon. a high 73. yesterday we poked up to 84. we actually tied the record. big ridge of high pressure

right over the east right now. that's going to be in this position. it will be a blocking position early next week. so that will likely force sandy back toward the east coast. not what we want to hear. a quiet morning with temperatures still on the mild side. low to mid-50s shenandoah valley. we're 63 in d.c. with 64 annapolis. 54 in manassas. not as warm as we have been. in the low to maybe mid-70s with enough sun. here's monika with timesaver traffic. good morning. there was another tractor- trailer incident northbound i- 95 overnight. the good news is near dale city it was cleared up at around 3:00 this morning. it was a fuel spill as well so it took a little while from about midnight to 3:00 a.m. to clear it up. but right now no delays. further north on 395 at duke street looking good as you head up to the 14th street bridge into the downtown area. let's go over to 27 on on the southbound side. i heard about a deer struck near clopper road coming in

from frederick. right now no delays as you head in toward germantown. we'll take a live look near clopper road route 117. looks like everything was cleared up. you're good to go through that area as well. i'll be back with more traffic at 4:39. >> thank you, monika. president obama and mitt romney are pulling out all the stops to find every single vote they can. the president is in the middle of a 40-hour campaign marathon which takes him through six states. >> the trip started in iowa and includes stops through several battleground states. mitt romney told supporters in nevada and iowa that his campaign is gaining momentum. susan mcginnis has more. >> reporter: 1,000 people packed a las vegas park for a late night rally featuring president obama and katie perry. ♪ you make me feel like a million dollars ♪ >> reporter: it's part of a 40- hour six-state swing. >> we're pulling an all nighter, no sleep. >> reporter: the president campaigns today in florida and

virginia. we'll vote this afternoon in his hometown of chicago and finish the night in ohio. >> ohio could well be the place that elects the next president of the united states. >> reporter: mitt romney will focus entirely on ohio today with rallies in cincinnati and the columbus area. romney says he's gaining ground in the polls because he believes the president has no plan for a second term. >> they've been unable to defend and describe what they do to get our economy going again. that's with a president that's out of ideas and out of excuses why on november 6 you have to make sure we put him out of office. >> reporter: the poll of ohio gives the president a five- point lead on romney. in the middle of the campaign blitz, both candidates jump into a controversy over comments made by an indiana senate candidate about race and pregnancy. >> i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that god intended to happen. >>